but they don't have to have a group of people on them! in fact it's pretty lame how generic most movie posters are...before the 80s or so, basically NO movie was represented by just a photographic collage of it - they hired awesome illustrators and designers to create their own visions of it and just as many people went to see them.

Also, cliches have changed. Sure, you can pick an elite group of the best, most unique posters from before the '80s. But I could pick a group of cliches, too. It's easier to recognize cliches now because we see them in our every day lives. It might not spring out to you that a cliche was a cliche if you saw it in the 70s.

I love that some of those categories are super specific and still have 30+ movies under them. ("Big Heads over Tiny People on a Beach" and "Running In the Street, At a Tilt And Tinted Blue" where my favorites)

This is dumb and false. As has been said in this thread, both the Memento and The Prestige examples are fan-made. And The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises are two movies from the same trilogy so it is actually a good idea and makes total sense that there is some stylistic consistency throughout the posters (especially since both Batman posters presented are "villain" posters — both of the main villain's back to the viewer). So, basically, you are left with Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, and The Prestige. None of which follows the pattern presented even slightly (in fact, they are pretty unique posters). And those are six of the eight movies he has directed.

I've seen this pic with some Nietzsche quote on it before. Is the original supposed to be Nietzsche? Nietzsche. Four years of philosophy and that's all I know how to do, is definitely how to spell Nietzsche.

What do you mean, "the cover of Thus Spoke Zarathustra"? There have been a million editions over the past 130 years, and I doubt there has been a version during Nietzsche's lifetime that had Caspar David Friedrich's painting on the front...

Well he didn't seem to leave much doubt into the whole "Batman dies" theory for the third film with that last poster. This guy is in the short list of people where it doesn't even matter what type of movie he comes out with, I'll watch it.

I work at a Hollywood ad agency and, while a couple of these posters may be fan-made, Christopher Nolan has been known to get heavily involved in the design process of several of his film's one-sheets.

I personally like this composition. It leaves a kind of "mystery" to the character. Example being both Batman films. We didn't know what to expect of Joker before seeing the movie, and the same goes for Bane.

Does anyone really think the next Batman will be the last? It's going to make such an absurd amount of money that I have to imagine the studio will just start throwing money at Nolan and Bale for another.

Its one of the rare times someone really wanted to make a comic book movie and tell a story instead of the studios wanting to use a license for a cash grab. They are out there but for every good comic inspired movie there are ten hulks.